splashpaw and swiftclaw: book one
by sparkflight
Summary: splashpaw doesn't want anything to do with toms, despite being chased by them day and night. meanwhile, swiftclaw grapples with the same problem. but even if these two cats never intentioned it to be like this, can they change the fact that their destinies are intertwined?
1. Chapter 1

chapter one

splashpaw! grasspaw whispered urgently. wake up!

her sister lifted one eye open. yes...? she grumbled.

come on! the silver tabby exclaimed. we have dawn patrol! aren't you excited?

splashpaw heaved herself to her feet, still exhausted. she licked one gray speckled paw and drew it over her ear. coming, she grumbled.

once they reached the entrance to camp, willowflower, spiritbreeze, birdheart, leafstorm, darkwhisker, and swiftclaw were waiting for them. leafstorm and darkwhisker seemed alert and ready to go, but the she-cats (as usual) were mooning over swiftclaw. willowflower purred happily, oh, swiftclaw, that squirrel you caught yesterday was delicious! I had to stop myself from eating another!

splashpaw rolled her bright green eyes as her sister said,

isn't swiftclaw _sooo_ amazing and dreamy? she whispered.

ignoring the silver tabby she-cat, splashpaw padded over to darkwhisker. we're here and ready, she told him. then she glanced at the lovesick grasspaw. well, almost ready.

the deputy flicked his tail in agreement, before trotting over to the group of she-cats. are you coming or not? he hissed. spiritbreeze's head whipped around. fine, fine, she replied, before whispering something to birdheart, her nodded in agreement. splashpaw was close enough to hear them.

he's just grumpy because he doesn't have a mate!

darkwhisker jumped over the ravine easily, and splashpaw scrambled after him. once they were all out of camp, the tom instructed,

leafstorm, you and spiritbreeze check sunningrocks. grasspaw and birdheart, the thunderpath. splashpaw, you and swiftclaw are hunting, and willowflower, you're with me.

why did he choose a _kit_ to hunt with swiftclaw? spiritbreeze muttered. splashpaw, deciding that the she-cat was to dumb to take any notice if she told her she was a apprentice, rethought her options. she whacked spiritbreeze in the head with her tail. then she trotted off before the tabby she-cat could do anything.

where should we hunt? she asked the tom once they were out of hearing range.

but swiftclaw did not answer her question. instead, he mewed,

listen, I don't really have time for a mate right now, okay?

but instead of what he thought splashpaw would do, (which was wail with sadness and despair) she turned on him.

are you _that_ stuck up? she hissed. not every she-cat wants to be with you! besides, I have enough toms chasing me already!

and it was true. every morning, unless she was up early, toms would crowd around her, asking if she wanted to hunt or patrol with one of them. her sister was envious of her, she knew. they like you because you're pretty, she would whine. and you're a great hunter! but you're not even as good at battle moves as me!

swiftclaw looked shocked, but... oddly happy.

few! finally! someone who knows how I feel! he meowed.

splashpaw ignored him, and instead she flicked her tail in the direction of the owl tree. we're supposed to be hunting, she reminded him. right, the black-and-white tom mewed.

by the end of the day, they had caught a rabbit, two voles, three mice, and one finch. even though she had no interest in toms whatsoever, she could not help thinking about how well they worked together.


	2. Chapter 2

chapter two

splashpaw! splashpaw! ravenheart exclaimed. will you hunt with me?

splashpaw! let's patrol together!

splashpaw! splashpaw! splashpaw!

It was the middle of the morning, but the black spotted-pretty she-cat felt like it was early, early early in the morning. toms were crowding around her so much that she could not even see grasspaw rolling her eyes at them, but she knew she was doing it all the same. It was something her sister did alot these days, ever since splashpaw had gone from "aww, such a cute kitten" to "OH MY STARCLAN THAT APPRENTICE IS SOO GORGEOUS!" or at least that's how her mother put it.

bramblestorm, her main "suitor" as grasspaw would say, was probably the most annoying. last moon he invited splashpaw on a walk, but she said she was hunting. then a couple of weeks ago, he tried to get her to patrol with him, but the apprentice said she was tired. and last night he wanted to share a mouse with the pretty little she-cat, but she said she had a bellyache and went to lye down. so this morning when he walked up to splashpaw and asked her to hunt with him, she literally yelled,

OH MY STARCLAN, CAN'T YOU EVER LEAVE ME ALONE? I MEAN, LAST MOON YOU "repeat of exactly what just happened" AND NOW YOU WANT ME TO HUNT WITH YOU? JUST EXCEPT IT! YOU'RE NOT MY TYPE!

acording to the rules of yelling, bramblestorm should have been shouting by now, but the tom just hung his head and walked away, tail drooping. splashpaw actually felt bad for him for a second, but she brushed it away with the fact he would just be back tomorrow, hopes remade. for now, splashpaw had other problems to worry about.

she padded over to grasspaw. what's wrong, sis? splashpaw mewed. but grasspaw just rolled her eyes. oh, don't act like the caring older sister, she snapped. we were born into the same litter!

splashpaw felt shocked. normally, her sister was not this harsh, but today it had just come pouring out. and looking down on grasspaw, talented and brave but unpopular, she felt several pangs of pity and guilt. ever since toms had begun to hang out with her, she and the silver gray she-cat had spent less and less time together. worst of all, splashpaw knew that ever since they were kits, grasspaw had had a secret crush on bramblestorm. so when she found out he liked her sister, grasspaw blamed her. why can't he like me? she would grumble. just one tom, in the whole clan! all the toms want to be your mate! splashpaw looked around and saw lots of she-cats bugging swiftclaw while he tried to pad away from them, out of camp. they followed.

not _all_ toms, she murmured.


	3. Chapter 3

chapter three

have you seen the kits yet? grasswhisker purred as she slid out of the nurserey. splashwing nodded happily. there're so cute! It had been less than a moon since their warrior ceremony, and dreampool, a pretty pure white she-cat had given birth to darkwhisker's kits the night before. has she named them yet? the lithe, black-and-white warrior asked. grasswhisker shook her head. but I hope she does soon. the sooner they're named, the sooner they're apprenticed. and starclan knows every warrior wants a apprentice! splashwing chuckled. are you sure that we're ready? a 'paw is a big responsibility! her sister sniffed. I can handle it, she mewed. it's not like being a mother! you can disipline them more.

the she-cat shook her head. well, I think that the mentors have it easier. they only have to deal with them for what, four moons? five? the mothers have to look after them for six moons, sometimes more! imagine that!

the silver tabby shrugged. whatever.

rolling her eyes, splashwing stalked off to her den. inside, she found swiftclaw.

things had changed between them ever since her warrior ceremony. not as many she-cats liked him any more. he was only three moons older, but cats like spiritbreeze and birdheart had begun to mature. birdheart was expecting shadowclaw's kits, spiritbreeze and leafstorm were now mates, and... willowflower was still single. but none of this changed swiftclaw's or splashwing's popularity. toms still hung around, but swiftclaw and splashwing had become friends. she had been cautious at first, and she still got jealous glares from she-cats at camp. the pretty she-cat knew that her clanmates were waiting for them to become mates. still, she hung back. she was still barely a warrior, and she knew that if she became mates with swiftclaw, she would gain the strong hatred and anger of almost every single she-cat in the clan.

but there was one female that hated splashwing the most.

that cat was willowflower.

splashwing could hear the white feline spreading rumors about her around camp. she had heard things like, _is it true you cheated on your_ _assessment?_ or, _do you really get special help from the leader when you hunt?_

they were all fake, of course. but willowflower's hatred? not so much.

it was not that swiftclaw liked willowflower or anything, but it was a open secret that she had had a mad crush for the tom ever since he was born. which was weird, since he was half a moon older than her, but whatever.

the black and white she-cat found herself staring into swiftclaw's blue eyes. she quickly glanced away, but the tom's gaze still lingered in her mind. she padded next to him.

look, we need to talk, she meowed. and she could see recognition dawn on him.

I think... I think-

but swiftclaw interrupted.

will you be my mate? he blurted out.

splashwing was quite taken aback. she had had toms ask her this before, but she had turned them down. she had never had any shred of feelings for any of them. but now... I... I... splashwing stuttered. the tom's gaze fell. I should have known you would refuse.

No! No, I'm just shocked! she replied hastily.

are you too shocked to answer me? swiftclaw muttered.

splashwing locked her gaze with his. she had to know if he acually loved her, or if he just liked her like all the other toms did.

do you really love me?

swiftclaw met her eyes.

yes.


End file.
